No-one ever wants to see their children in hospital, but for many kids across the country - spending months there is a reality. To ensure they don't fall behind in their education, a dedicated group of principals and teachers is now taking school lessons to them.
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00:00 For the past three years, Peyton Allen has spent much of her young life in hospital.
00:07 At just seven years old, she was diagnosed with severe lupus.
00:12 When I first went there, I was only young. I was so bored. I only had like, I just had
00:19 toys and that was it. I didn't know what to do. I was so sad.
00:28 Between treatment, tests and scans, there was a shining light in the form of on-site
00:34 schooling.
00:34 Lisa, she came to me and she said, 'Would you like to come to the school hospital?'
00:41 I said, 'Yes, please.'
00:44 John Hunter Hospital School can be found deep in the corridors of the Children's Hospital
00:49 in Newcastle. Some days, more than a dozen students attend the school, other days just
00:54 two or three. And enrolment can last a few weeks or sometimes several years.
00:59 The teachers, including myself and our support staff, go and visit all the children that
01:05 are aged between five and 18 years at their bedside. Those children that are well enough
01:10 will come. We invite them to come to the school room.
01:13 But some children aren't well enough to leave their hospital beds.
01:17 We have two ward teachers that go and visit and teach the students bedside.
01:22 Payton's mother, Moya Allen, says it's been a long, hard journey. But the school's support
01:27 has been immeasurable.
01:29 I don't even think supportive is the right word. They're more than supportive. They're
01:32 our family. They're Payton's family.
01:35 Education for children in hospitals started 100 years ago, with the first hospital school
01:41 opened at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Camperdown. Today, there are 10 hospital schools
01:47 in New South Wales, and John Hunter is one of only two outside Sydney.
01:52 John Hunter Hospital School is the size of a small classroom. But it services an area
01:59 the size of the United Kingdom, with about 1,000 students from right across the Hunter
02:06 and northern New South Wales attending each year.
02:09 All of our teachers have an enormous heart and have a passion for working in this setting.
02:14 A little school helping students through extraordinary times.
02:19 [END]
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